Dr. Nancy Gahles DC, (Ret.), CCH, RSHom(NA), Cert.MBSR, OIM 

"The next Buddha may take the form of a community ~ Thich Nhat Hahn 

 

The radical notion of independence from organized religions is the foundational philosophy of Spirit of Love~The Rockaway Sangha. 

 

Informed by my understanding that one realizes their personhood, their spirituality, their Godhead for themselves in silence, in the absence of dogma, cultural taboos, restrictive practices, and exclusion of women in hierarchy, I sought to offer a safe place to Be in the form of a community Sangha. 

 

We, as spirits having a human experience, exist in relationship . We are formed from relationship and we are honed in relationship. The more relationships we are exposed to, the finer we attune our own selves . We become closer to knowing who we are in relationship to others. 

 

Communities represent a collection, a microcosm, of people who offer us opportunities to see the face of God in others and in doing so, reflect it back to ourselves for evaluation and processing. 

 

I am quite fond of this excerpt from C.S. Lewis:

So it was you all along. 

Everyone I ever loved, it was you. 

Everything decent or fine that ever happened to me, 

Everything that made me reach out and try to be better, 

It was you all along. 

 

Spirit of Love~The Rockaway Sangha is an indie Sangha. Independent of organized religions. 

It is a Sangha in its purest form. 

An urban lay community its of people who practice Mindfulness Meditation in order to reduce suffering and increase happiness in tangible, practical, meaningful ways. 

For our good and the good of everyone. 

 

The Spirit of Love is a mooring in the midst of life's day-to-day struggles. 

We come together to support one another, to learn how to become more fully human,  to expand our awareness of our Internal nature and to practice Loving Kindness and Compassion in Action. 

 

The Spirit of Love is  grounded in the collective spiritual leadership of the community. 

There is no top down hierarchy. Transmission of teachings emanates from the collective.  

The Sangha offers us a means by which, as author Paulo Friere says ..men and women deal critically, collectively and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of the world. 

 

Thich Nhat Hahn likewise says: 

Transformation takes place in daily life.

To make the practice of transformation easy 

Practice with a Sangha.